Xander’s POV
The room buzzed with tension, the weight of Lydia’s testimony hanging heavy in the air like an approaching storm. My pulse hammered in my chest, each beat echoing the disbelief coursing through my veins. Alison, an Alpha’s blood? No, it couldn’t be. But she was lying lifeless in my room? My throat felt dry as sand paper, my mind a whirlwind of doubts and fragmented truths. The room was suffocating, a mix of aged wood, the faint tang of ink from council documents, and the oppressive energy of too many power-hungry alphas confined in one space.
Alpha Gaius stood tall at the center, his voice slicing through the murmur of the council like a blade. “Do you still need more proof?” His eyes, sharp and unyielding, bored into the Head Alpha, daring him to counter his claim.
The Head Alpha finally exhaled, a long, deliberate sigh that silenced the room. His gray eyes, clouded with years of judgment and authority, darted between Gaius and me. “This council deeply acknowledges your grievance,” he said slowly, his voice even but laced with caution. “However, the case against Alpha Xander Kane remains separate. Even though Alpha Lucian abducted your daughter, his son and successor Alpha Kendrick may not be aware of this. Therefore, Alpha Kane’s attack on the Silver Moon Pack and the capture of its Alpha were unauthorized and goes against the Peace treaty enacted Fifteen Years ago.”
I clenched my fists at my sides, fighting the urge to lash out. My teeth ground together, the metallic taste of frustration coating my tongue. Before I could respond, Gaius stepped forward, his booming voice demanding attention.
“Unauthorized?” Gaius’s laugh was cold, a sound that sent shivers skittering down my spine. “I do not think you get it, Xander attacked because they targeted his Luna-to-be Alison first who happens to be my daughter Maureen, whom you just saw proof that Silver Moon abducted! It’s not just an abduction but a cycle of calculated crimes. She was abducted by the father, set free by Alpha Xander but unsatisfied she ended up being attacked by the son.” His words crackled like thunder, igniting a storm of murmurs across the room.
The council erupted, voices overlapping in chaotic agreements and realization. The tension was electric, crackling in the air like static before a lightning strike. I shot a glance at Gaius, his expression unreadable but his stance unrelenting. His words had turned the tide in my favor, but at what cost?
Taking a steadying breath, I stepped forward, pulling out my phone and scrolling to the damning text logs. My fingers trembled slightly, but I masked the movement by gripping the device harder. “This,” I began, my voice steady but simmering with restrained anger, “is evidence of Alpha Kendrick’s threats. He’s been sending threatening messages to My Alison in a bid to drag her back to Silver Moon, at times he claimed he knew and would reunite her with her ‘family’ with the condition that she returned to Silver Moon, is that not motive enough to want to eliminate her as she wasn’t interested in returning to him?.”
I passed the phone to the Head Alpha, his eyes narrowing as he scrolled through the messages. The murmurs grew quieter, the weight of the texts sinking into the room like an anchor. The Head Alpha’s lips thinned into a grim line. He handed the phone back to me and exchanged a glance with the council members.
“This evidence complicates the narrative,” he admitted, his tone grudging. “But it does not absolve Xander of responsibility. The attack on Silver Moon was… ”
“Justified,” Gaius interrupted, his voice a hammer striking an anvil. “Do you mean to tell me that my long lost daughter, abducted by the father and manipulated by the son, should have been left to rot under their control?”
The room fell silent, the weight of his words pressing down on every alpha present. The Head Alpha pinched the bridge of his nose, clearly at war with himself. After a long pause, he spoke.
“Very well,” he said, his voice tired but firm. “The charges against Xander are dismissed, but only under one condition: he must hand over the captivity and hearing of Alpha Kendrick and his luna, Priya, to this council.”
A surge of relief mingled with defiance surged through me. My jaw tightened as I processed his demand. Reluctantly, I nodded. “Agreed.”
The Head Alpha banged the gavel, signaling the end of the hearing. The council began to disperse, the alphas breaking into small groups, their hushed conversations buzzing like a swarm of bees. I stayed rooted to the spot, my mind racing with everything that had transpired. The dismissal of charges should have felt like a victory, but the questions swirling around Alison’s identity cast a shadow over any sense of triumph.
Outside the council chamber, the air was sharp and cold, biting at my skin as I stepped into the open courtyard. The stone pathways were damp from the morning’s rain, the faint scent of earth and wet leaves lingering in the air. I stared up at the overcast sky, the gray clouds mirroring the storm brewing within me.
Gaius approached me, his presence as commanding as ever. His eyes held a strange mixture of triumph and sorrow, a reflection of the battles he’d fought and the truths he’d uncovered.
“Thank you for coming to my aid,” I said, my voice measured but genuine. “But I need to be clear about something… Alison cannot be of Alpha blood.”
Gaius’s brow furrowed, his lips pressing into a thin line. “And why do you think that?” he asked, his tone sharp.
“She wasn’t just attacked, she was poisoned,” I said, the words tumbling out faster than I intended. “By Silver Moon’s luna, Priya. The attack wasn’t just retaliation; it was desperation. Alison is dying… She is on the brink of death. The doctor hasn’t confirmed her dead yet, but she’s been poisoned with wolfsbane. And we both know that only one with Alpha blood could survive it but she wouldn’t survive it as the physician says, she has been in Coma for a month now.”
Gaius stared at me, his expression unreadable. For a moment, he said nothing, his silence stretching like the tension before a battle cry.
Before he could respond, my phone buzzed in my pocket. The vibration jolted me back to the present. I pulled it out, my mother’s name flashing on the screen.
I answered quickly, her voice rushing through the line like a gust of wind. “Xander,” she said, her tone urgent but tinged with relief. “She’s awake!! Alison is awake!!”
My breath hitched, the world tilting beneath me. For a moment, I couldn’t process her words. The courtyard, the damp air, the distant chatter of other Alpha’s, all of it faded into the background.
“She’s awake?” I repeated, my voice barely above a whisper.
“Yes,” my mother confirmed. “She’s asking for you.”
The line went dead, but her words lingered, echoing in my mind like the final notes of a haunting melody. My grip tightened around the phone, my heart pounding with a mix of hope and dread.
Alison was awake but how?